


Revel

by clerati



Series: Spite and Sweat [2]
Category: X-Men (Original Timeline Movies)
Genre: Angst, F/M, mostly plot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-18
Updated: 2020-09-10
Packaged: 2021-03-06 11:01:47
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,551
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25968556
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/clerati/pseuds/clerati
Summary: No one comes out of infidelity unscathed.
Relationships: John Allerdyce/Rogue, RYRO - Relationship
Series: Spite and Sweat [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1884847
Comments: 2
Kudos: 9





	1. Insecurity

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Rating: G

Her infidelity is very public. Bobby is too much of a gentleman to mention anything, but she goes from dating one roommate to the other overnight. Bobby won’t look at them, their trio suddenly evaporates, and she and John are not exactly subtle. They constantly touch each other. They hold hands; they brush the other’s face; they part with quick kisses that are not exactly chaste. She has a part of him constantly with her, and it helps her deal with the fall out. He’s so sure about them that it helps her feel that this has all been worth it.

The bright side of her new unpopularity is that she and John have plenty of time together. Even in the cafeteria, they are always alone. 

* * *

John loves just watching her. Jubilee is the only one of her friends not snubbing her. She jokes that they’re practically sisters now that they share a father-figure, but John knows that Jubilee just isn’t afraid of the notoriety in the way most of their peers are. She becomes an almost third-party to their couple, sitting across from them in public spaces, making jokes and causing trouble. 

Rogue, used to the immunity of popularity, has been put off by how easily everyone seemed to choose Bobby’s side. John reminds her that he’s the wronged party, but she’s not used to facing consequences for her misbehavior, and he realizes why infidelity came so naturally to her. He wonders briefly if he should be worried. 

John is used to being a loner, having been a runaway long before his mutant powers activated, and before that having bounced from foster home to foster home. He wasn’t used to staying in one place long enough to make friends, and by the time he’d gotten here, he just wasn’t good at it having them. 

Rogue is laughing at something Jubilee said, and her mouth forms into an earnest smile, wide and matched with warm eyes. He’s not really used to being happy and being with her has been almost uncomfortable with how soft it makes him feel, but he depends on her joy more than his own. He’s relieved.

* * *

Bobby tries to avoid seeing them, but he can’t really help it. 

He wants to wish they’d be more discreet, but avoiding a scene isn’t John’s style. He guesses it isn’t Rogue’s either. Jubilee rotates who she eats lunch with. So, he can’t avoid learning the details. Still, he’s being a big person about it, even if they want to make fools of themselves. 

“Honestly, it’s so trashy.” Kitty interrupts. 

“Yeah, I guess.” Jubilee admits. She turns to him. “Do you think she was cheating on you?” She scrunches her nose a little as she says it, and her big expectant eyes sparkle at the possibility. 

Possibility… He can pretend, can’t he?

“She wouldn’t do that.” he says, without really believing it, and he wonders why he’s protecting her. She did do that. 

“Of course she didn’t.” Kitty says in a small voice, putting her hand on his arm. “She’d have to be insane.” she adds, louder for the whole table. 

The whole table looks over to where John and Rogue sit for lunch now. Piotr shifts closer to Kitty and kisses her shoulder. Maybe infidelity is contagious, but Bobby isn’t the kind of person to get involved with someone in a relationship. Some things are sacred. And, if he’s being honest, he’s still hoping that Rogue will change her mind. 

Rogue and John are laughing about something, and he wonders what trouble they’ll be getting into. He realizes that he misses John a little too, even if he was a bad influence. 

Kitty watches him for too long, but he pretends not to notice. 

“She’s not coming tonight, is she?” Kitty says. He hopes she’s right.

“They are.” Jubilee answers. “I invited them. Come on, we can’t freeze them out forever.”

“Some of us didn’t freeze them out at all.” Kitty replies.

The two girls are locked in a glare and it’s already more drama than he’s willing to deal with. “It’s fine. They should come.” He says, if for no other reason than because Kitty is getting too involved and he feels bad for Piotr. This whole thing will be over soon, for better or worse. 

He’s watching them, John and Rogue, and he thinks they both look really happy. It pisses him off. “Did they say they were coming?” He can feel every muscle in his body clench. 

“Yeah.” Jubilee says, her voice a little hard but quiet too. 

He reminds himself to not look so pathetic. 

* * *

John accidentally invented this tradition, sneaking out once a month or so. They’d grab some drinks at a store they found that didn’t card, and bum around one of the nicer parks. The last bit had been Bobby’s addition, that and the crowd. 

Parks in nice neighborhoods don’t get patrolled. John could find a bar or liquor store that didn’t card from miles away; he could practically follow his nose to a house party, but his nose only ever led him to trouble. Bobby knew how to evade trouble. Boy scouts can do that.

Watching Rogue change into her third outfit, he worries about her. He doesn’t think this is going to go well, but she’s determined. She says she wants to show them that they haven’t hurt her, that she doesn’t care, but they both know she just misses her friends and part of her thinks that if they all just get together again, everything will go back the way it was. But, and he knows she’s just ignoring this part, getting back together with Bobby would be going back to the way it was, and nothing short of that is going to get her back in with them. 

As for him- well, Bobby would forgive her, his precious innocent girlfriend who was seduced by the resident bad boy, but there’s no going back for John. And if there was? Could he stand to watch her with Bobby again, after having had her like this, after holding her hand in class, spreading her fingers out on his lap and caressing their length, not having to care or worry that someone might see? And if she did go back to Bobby, would she want him to be her dirty secret again? Would she just disappear, leaving him behind in ostracization? 

“How about this one?” She’s overdressed. She wants to look nice.

“You’re gorgeous.” She smiles, looking pleased with herself. He doesn’t want to ruin that. “But, maybe it's a little much?” He’s right, but her groan of frustration hurts him. “Just wear what you were wearing before. You never used to dress up for these things.”

She looks up at him with surprise, like she hadn’t realized that. She’s getting ready with him in his room and she’s wondering where Bobby is, and she’s overthinking the whole thing. 

She looks at herself in the mirror, and he’s wondering if she feels as overdressed as she looks now. The expression on her face is low and tight. She half-shuffles her feet over to sit next to him on the bed with a big sigh. He grabs her hand, as she sinks into the mattress, mostly out of habit. Her eyes are wide and fixated on the pile of girl stuff she brought with her to get ready. He’s worried. 

John cradles her hand between both of his, and brings her palm to his lips. When she doesn’t look at him, he pushes her glove up a little with a thumb, and kisses the pulse of her wrist, letting her take a little of him through her skin. 

She winces. She’s never done that before. 

“I’m not sure this is a good idea.”

She balks at that. “Since when are you afraid of a bad idea?” She seems to be feeling better now, and he knows that’s his own rebel attitude shining through her eyes. She gets up fast, does a twirl, and looks him straight in the eye. “I like this one. I look amazing. Who cares if you think I’m overdressed.”

He can’t help but laugh at that. “Why are you asking me anyway?”


	2. Nursing A Broken Heart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chapter rating: E (sorry, my hand slipped and I wrote smut)
> 
> The first bit is T, and you can skip the rest of the chapter without losing much once it starts getting sexy.

Rogue's nursing bourbon, watching as Kitty pulls another beer from Bobby's lot. Her eyes are dark and her lips are pressed together tight and thin, and he's wondering if she's jealous. 

Piotr for his part tries not to notice, and Jubilee plays the diplomat, asking for a swig of his vodka.

Jubilee, inviting them here, playing interference for Kitty, she's the glue.

"Oh!" Jubilee takes another swig. "That's good!"

"Watch the liquor, Jubes!" Bobby interjects. "That stuffs strong."

Piotr is laughing, while Jubilee waves him off. "Not any worse than baijiu. Kitty, come try some."

Kitty looks down at her beer, and then at Bobby who seems to be trading nonverbal anxieties with her. "No, I'm good."

Piotr laughs a little harder. John likes him. He's not been at the mansion long, but he holds his liquor well enough and he doesn't take sides.

Everything seems pretty normal, but then Jubilee asks Rogue over. She scrunches up her nose, and says she'll stick to her bourbon, and Piotr waves the bottle at him. If he's honest, John will pretty much drink anything. He takes a swig, and decides vodka does the job well enough.

Piotr seems impressed, and offers the bottle again, and after he's returned it a second time, Kitty walks over to retrieve her boyfriend, and Piotr is reminded that he's not supposed to be talking to him. 

"What happened anyway? They seem nice." Piotr asks her, and Kitty spins a tale that's accurate, but still somehow worse than reality. Or maybe it's not. Rogue's looking guilty enough listening to the gossip like she didn't live it. 

Piotr takes a seat next to Kitty, with Bobby on the other side, and gets serious again. John can see that something is going on there, and he wonders if the whole group paired off wrong the first time. But with how Piotr is looking at him now, he thinks he just represents a dangerous precedence. Jubilee has skiped off to sit with Rogue on the swings, and he's just there, inconsequential. He walks over to them and takes a swig of bourbon. 

Rogue's listening to some crazy story Jubilee's got from her runaway days, and he wonders if that's why she plays the go-between. They're all outcasts here, but Bobby and Kitty have homes somewhere. No one knows much about Piotr yet, but he talks about his family fondly, his little sister especially, and that's information enough. John had nothing long before his powers manifested, and if Rogue ever had a family, she doesn't have one now. 

"Jubes, come here!" Bobby yells out, and she runs over. The group laughs with each other, and Rogue's looking over like she's lost something precious. Bobby locks eyes with her while he talks to the others, and they just stare for a long time, with John watching, feeling like he's the third wheel again. Bobby gets this dumb grin on his face, and John's done. 

"Come on." He tells Rogue. "Let's go."

"No, I don't want to go." 

"Well, I don't want to stay." 

"John-" and she says his name like she calls the shots. 

"Stay if you want." He knows he's not being fair, but he's spent enough time watching her moon over Bobby fucking Drake, and hell, maybe he's a little drunk too, but who the fuck cares. 

"John!" She yells after him, but he's not turning back.

* * *

They usually sneak back in the early morning. It's easier without the insomniacs wandering around, but it's barely past 1am when he gets in and he's able to avoid any trouble. Rogue follows about an hour later, almost, and just crawls into his bed like she belongs there.

He's been awake, hands just laying on his stomach while he stares at the ceiling. He's been almost calm in waiting for her, like the eye of a hurricane. 

She's in a nightgown and thigh highs, and the outfit offsets that he's in a t-shirt and boxers. They just have to worry about their arms and faces, their hands. 

She's got her head against his chest, one hand fisting his shirt and the other on his shoulder. He's got his arms wrapped around her back holding on for dear life. Is this what love is, holding someone and feeling like you need them to be a part of you?

They lay like that for a while, half an hour, five minutes maybe. It's impossible to tell. All he knows is that he feels really close to her right now, and she adjusts her body to lift herself up. She's leaning over him, their faces almost touching nose to nose, and she traces a hand down his chest, smoothing the fabric down, then up his side, bunching the fabric of his shirt up so the satin of her nightgown brushes his skin. His hands tighten on her as her hand moves up and down his thigh through his boxers, and the anticipation gets him hard enough that his erection slips out and wets her nightgown with a little pre-cum.

"You got a condom somewhere?"

And he does, from before her. Not that he hasn't thought about how to use them with her, but she's shy about her powers for all that they kiss, and he doesn't want to do anything that isn't going to get her off. 

"Maybe," he starts, "but I'm not sure what kind of game you're playing in thigh highs."

He's imagined her in full-length hose with a slit, pushing himself in and out of her without going flush against her enough that it'll cause trouble, but this? She has at least two feet of milky thighs exposed, and he doesn't think he'd be able to keep hard through the drain of her powers or how long he could stay conscious anyway. 

She smiles, biting her lip, and he's pretty sure he can reach into the nightstand to grab them without moving her, but the effort makes her laugh. She throws her head back, and the skin of her throat is tempting. She slips off the bed, and he grabs the foil packet, which she practically steals from his hands. 

She grabs at his shirt to motion for him to sit at the edge, and he does as he's told. She rips the foil, and she kneels between his legs, slipping the condom on with an ease that makes him wonder if she's done this before, but he's trying not to go there. 

The pressure of her fingertips are amazing and not enough. This version of her, kneeling, is always a little intimidating, and he's just trying to keep still enough that she maintains control of the situation. Their eyes are locked when she wraps her whole palm around him, and it feels like a building and a relief simultaneously. 

She's holding him a little soft, then too tight, and he groans as she experiments, trying to get her grip just right. She knows the cadence of the rise and fall from watching him while he watches her, and soon she's manipulating him like it's an art form, and his eyeline falters for a second. He wants to touch her, all of her, and just about everything in his reach is completely inaccessible, uncovered, dangerous, and he doesn't want to care but he can't help it, because he feels close. His eyes close against the tension she's building again, and when he gets himself together enough to open them up, he catches her panting at him and she dips her mouth to lick the length of him through the latex, and then she's sucking him off, and it's enough. He can't help but jerk toward her as he cums, and she tries to steady him with a hand on his thigh. Bare skin against bare skin, but he's already over the edge so it doesn't matter, except for the filthy images of herself she's about to get. He's pretty sure she enjoys them anyway, even though he's never asked her about it. 

He slumps back against the bed, panting like he just ran a marathon, and she comes next to him, kneeling over with both her legs crossed underneath her. She looks mighty pleased with herself, and he's really glad about that. Her bottom lip is swollen from working it between her teeth, and he makes a note to be gentle against her mouth once he catches his breath. 

He thinks she's about to say I love you, but she's just looking at him, and so he holds the words at the back of his throat. 

He lifts himself up onto an elbow. "Come here." They kiss, and he looks over at the clock. "We've got a couple more hours before Bobby'll get back."


	3. Picking Sides

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chapter rating: M

“How’re you feeling?” John asks her.

It’s been days since they’ve talked. She’s been avoiding him. He’s only seen her in class, and she knew how to bolt in and out fast enough to keep him from catching up. Then today, finally, after days of nothing, she turns up at lunch, slipping to sit next to him like she hadn’t disappeared at all. 

“Shitty.” she replies.   
  
He nods, understanding. People still gossip about them, loudly and within earshot. 

She scoots a little, leaning her body toward him for a soft, slow kiss. He hesitates after finding himself relaxing into her, his hand falling just below her waist to pull her closer, even as his veins rise with a thousand pinpricks. It's a little too easy for her to slip back into him. There's a sort of injustice in that. 

"So, you're not sick of me then?" He comments, pulling away from her, thumb caressing her side. He loves her, but her powers are a kick in the gut, and he's not exactly feeling swell himself.

"I know I've been a terrible girlfriend." The part of him she's stolen gives snide agreement, even as the John before her stays silent. "John-"

He cut her off. "Must be nice having me in there." He flicks his lighter open, closed, a steady rhythm. "What, the imprint you were carrying around wore off and now you're here to refuel?" She's hurt by the suggestion, and while it's probably not true, he can't help the insecurity. "Or, maybe you find the fucking invasion of privacy easier than talking to me." Bingo. 

She's stunned. His name falls out of her mouth like a flutter, uneasy and impotent.

He's breathing harder, and his lighter is the only sound in the room. Everyone is watching them, listening. He pretends not to notice, not really caring. But she cares. He knows she cares, and he's not breaking eye contact. She can't help it. Most everyone looks away when she stares back at them, but Kitty doesn't. 

People start to whisper the rumors again, some even founded on truth, and John follows Rogue's gaze over and rolls his eyes. At least she's not locked eyes with Bobby this time. 

He looks over at his ex-bestfriend. Bobby's stare is deep in his plate, politely pretending not to have noticed anything, and John can feel suddenly the exact distance between Bobby and himself, and it's all measured in manners and reputation. 

He and Rogue aren't exactly sitting far away and it's not like every single one of them isn't paying close attention, but John can't help himself. Still locking his eyes on the back of Bobby's head, he says to Rogue, "you know, I'm pretty sure you can take it all back if you want."

Bobby reacts to that, his eyes darting over despite himself, and John watches as Rogue's shift over from Kitty to fall in line with her ex. "Figures."

He pockets his lighter as he lifts himself from the table. Rogue reacts to the loss of his hand more than the words themselves. "Wait-" she reaches for him, but he dodges and she only catches air. She watches his retreating back, and she wonders which of the two she's managed to hurt more. 

She turns to Bobby again, catching his eyes, and he's looking at her like he's remembering how to breathe. She figures she needs to tackle this problem one boy at a time. 

She walks over to the table, their eyes never leaving one another. "Can we talk?"

He nods affirmatively. "Of course."

* * *

It's not a good feeling, being alone with her again. Even when they'd been dating, they were never alone much. John was always with them, like a third limb. 

He's used to taking advantage of these moments. Going for a kiss, or just getting too close to her for public consumption. But, she's not his anymore and he can't, so he stuffs his hands in his pockets to keep them steady. 

She looks uncomfortable, like she's not sure what she wants to say, and he wonders if she's mulling over her options. John's right. He's been waiting for her. 

"I miss you." The words slip from his lips easily, because they're true.

Her brown eyes are darker now than usual, and she's fidgeting with the tips of her gloves. 

He wants to kiss her, but he knows that move. He's learned her body language with a sense memory he wishes he could forget. She'd stop him with a hand to his chest before he'd gotten truly close to her, and he thinks of how he's seen her with John, diving in without a beat. In the year they dated, he figures he landed a clean 80%, not bad given her powers, but she never initiated.

"I miss you too." She says, and he feels his chest contract, because her words imply a lot less than his. 

"How long?"

"Have I missed you? Always."

"No." She's not getting off that easy. He's nice, but he's not that nice. "How long were you two going behind my back?"

She steps back a little, and he almost feels bad for asking. "Pretty much the whole time."

He feels colder, having heard it. It's worse than he expected, the truth.

"Bobby…" Her voice is so gentle, he almost feels some hope again. But, he follows her gaze, and realizes there's a frost on everything within 5 feet of them. 

"Sorry." He mutters, pulling his hands from his pockets, flexing them. He's not like John, who can turn flames up or down. He can only create the ice. He has no way of bringing the room back to normal. 

"I'm really sorry." Her eyes are wide, her lips fixed in a pout, and she looks so beautiful he can't help but forgive her for the moment. 

"The whole time," he starts, "was there any point that you loved me?"

They'd never said the words, but they both know she had known how he felt about her. It was the first thing she got with every kiss, every brush of skin on skin. 

She measured the moment. It felt definitive. "Yeah." Not in the way he had, but she loved him. The details seemed unnecessary. "But I love him too." Different. More. "I didn't do it to hurt you."

"You did, though."

"I know." 

He wants to ask why, but she's already given him the answer. She loves John. Maybe she loves them both, but she's chosen John. "Why him?" His real question, why not me, stands between them.

She considers which to answer. "You're a great guy Bobby. You're really nice and generous, and you always do the right thing. It's so easy to like you. But, John and I, we're different in the same way."

He doesn't want to hear any of this. He wants her to go back with him, and he's realizing that's not going to happen. 

She thinks his shoulders seem broader somehow. "Do you think you'll ever forgive us?" 

Bobby looks away, eyeing the door back to the cafeteria. "I'm not mad." Just heartbroken. "Just give it time."

* * *

Talking things out with Bobby's always easier. He's a talker. John's not. 

They're just staring at each other. She's leaning against the doorway, and John's sitting at the edge of his bed, enjoying the deep v-neck of her sweater, everything covered but her cleavage.

"You're mercenary." he finally remarks, and they both know he's not really referring to her wardrobe. 

"Yeah." She doesn't defend herself, and he considers just letting her get away with it. 

"Where have you been?"

"Just processing."

"Processing. Is that what you call it?"

"John-"

"Don't act like you weren't even considering going back to him."

He's right, and there's not much she can do about that. "I love you."

The words don't solve anything, but she figures there must be a value in saying them out loud. He scoffs, looks away, but then motions for her to come sit next to him with a swing of his head. His lighter's back out. The rhythm brings a steadiness and calm to the moment. 

"Are you going to disappear on me like that again?"

She wants to say no but- "Probably." She figures lying isn't going to help things. "I'm always going to come back." He sighs. "Always," she continues, "to you."

She has a way of seeming innocent, naive even, when she's the one in the wrong.

"Come here." He says, and he brings his hand to her cheek, into her hair, and she lets him take lead, pulling her face in to meet his. 

Their lips touch with a rush. His kiss is soft and decisive. He pulls her onto his lap, and tips his chin up as to not seperate them. She's deepening the kiss, swiping her tongue against his lips, but he's reaching his pain tolerance, and he tugs on her shoulder in a way that she understands by now. They seperate, and his breath is ragged as he tangles his hand in her hair, luxuriating in the parts of her he can touch without some sacrifice. 

He closes his fist with her hair between his fingers and it stings just a little, and he brings his other hand to trace the hem of her bra through her shirt. She reaches her arms back, not breaking eye contact, and undoes the claps, pulling the straps off through her sleeves, and drawing it out, tossing her bra away to some forgotten corner of the room. 

This is what they have, caresses and eye contact. He cups her breast and massages just around her nipple, wondering how far they should really go given that Bobby could come in any moment. 

"We should probably head to class." He almost can't believe he's saying it.

She kisses him again, even though he's not quite recovered yet, but it's a relief to him anyway, like she's choosing him again every time they kiss. He relaxes into her body, into the drain, and pinches her nipple just hard enough to make her gasp, just for a second. 

"Yeah." She responds when their lips finally part. "Walk me to class?" 

She's smirking like him right now, and it looks good on her. 


End file.
